Black ink not printing

[WichitaDan]

I've had this printer for many years and today the black ink is not printing.  The utility shows the black cartridge is not low on ink.  I've tried cleaning the print heads to no effect (I looked on the support site and found instructions on how to manually clean the heads, but I'm not up to that procedure).  After cleaning the heads, the color cartridges are now low (they show so in both the utility and with the flashing lights on the printer), so I would need to the replace all the cartridges, which I would gladly do if I knew it wasn't another problem.  So my questions are:

1) Has anyone had this problem and can think of anything else I should try?

2) If I need to replace the printer, any recommendations for a comparable printer (I would really prefer to not buy an all-in-one, but I don't see any such options)?

3) Has anyone tried the manual head cleaning procedure (https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/model/3866939/document/c04771186) and is it really as difficult and precise as it sounds?

Thanks for any help.

[TEJ1602]

@WichitaDan

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details). 

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!